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Pata Pata

"Pata Pata" is a Afro-pop dance song popularized internationally by South African singer Miriam Makeba. "Pata Pata" is credited to Makeba and Jerry Ragovoy. Her most popular recording of "Pata Pata" was recorded and released in the United States in 1967.[1][2] The song is considered by many to be Makeba's signature hit and it has since been covered by many artists.

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The song's title "Pata Pata" means "touch touch" in the Xhosa language, in which the song was originally written and sung.[2] "Pata Pata" was also the name of a style of dance that was popular in the shebeens of Johannesburg's Townships[3] in the mid-1950s. The dancer crouched before his partner[4] and patted her body to the rhythm of the music as he rose up and she spun around, making hip circles.[5][6][7] In another version of the dance,

The male dancers stand in a row with their arms extended out to the front, palms to the floor, while the women pat each in turn in a manner resembling security search body-frisking, after which the men do the same to the women.[8]

Makeba's "Pata Pata" was not the only song inspired by the "Pata Pata" dance.[9] Her "Pata Pata" melody was based on an instrumental "Phatha Phatha" by Shumi Ntutu and Isaac Nkosi, which was in turn based on "Noma Kumnyama" by Alson Mkhize.[9] The popular 1956 "Ei Yow Phata Phata"[10] by Dorothy Masuka was distinctly different from Makeba's,[9] but in later years, Masuka made her own recording of the version made popular by Makeba. Masuka claimed that she herself had written it.[11]

Makeba's "Pata Pata" was originally sung, recorded, and released in South Africa by Makeba's girl group The Skylarks[12] in 1959.[9] In 1967, after establishing a successful singing career in the US, Makeba re-recorded the song with Jerry Ragovoy producing, and with an added spoken part in English. It was released in the United States on Makeba's studio album of the same name.[2]

The original version of "Pata Pata" is included on Pata Pata (released 1972), The Best of the Early Years (Miriam Makeba), a collection of 24 tracks released in 2002 by Wrasse, and the 40-track compilation Her Essential Recordings: The Empress of African Song (2006 Manteca).

In 1988, a duet version with Chayanne was made. It was included in the album Chayanne. In 1990 Makeba re-recorded the song for her own album Welela. Makeba also released a renovated version of the song, entitled "Pata Pata 2000", in her 2000 album Homeland.